Originally Posted by
Cilvaringz
You guys are missing one angle. Not all of True and 4th's beats are Wu-Renegades / Heaterz quality. Most producers, me included, will have more wack/average beats than absolute bangers. Like for instance my Mental Chamberz stuff on Spotify will never include beats that I know I can reach a higher potential with. Same as the work I reserved for OUATIS, I would consider that some of my best work. The same can be said for 4th and True. If given the oppertunity to work on a U-God or Deck album, they too might make those same considerations... "Nah Imma keep these for a Meth joint, or a Clan joint, cause the mechanicals are gonna be much higher, the royalties are gonna be higher, the flat fee", etc etc. So they might not be inclined enough to hand over that next Heaterz joint to someone they might feel will not maximise the full potential of it. So they end up sending the average beats. The artist then might not feel them as much and will eventually stop calling, or get pissed off that Meth DID get that banger shit, while he didn't. This is a scenario that happens. Then again, other scenarios are that those producers are left without placements for years on end sometimes and now just need a paycheck, but they've grown tired of hearing that incredible banger they made two years ago and have kind of forgotten about it, and have moved on to newer sounding beats while we as fans would prefer the ones they forgot about. That's another scenario I experienced myself with 4th in Steubenville when he was playing me incredible stuff that he didn't even know where he stashed them, what disk they were on, where he got the samples from so he couldn't even remake them, etc etc. And then there's the Clan scenario where RZA will decide pretty much what ends up on the album. And the more RZA productions on there, the more mechanicals flow RZA's way, and that's an incentive that sometimes might play, not saying it does cause I was never part of those decision moments, but it does happen.
U-God, Deck and Killa should've gotten their due, their one RZA produced album. And I believe the Deck album had started, and that disappeared in the second flood. But as ferocious and maybe Top 2 emcees in the Clan Deck was on Clan albums, he might not have been "Bomb Atomically" enough when holding an entire song down. You can't expect "Bomb Atomically" level verses all over all the songs. Sometimes emcees are much better in group format than they are solo. Again, not to say that's a fact with the aforementioned three, but I can imagine labels might've felt that, or might've felt that the commercial appeal wasn't as strong as the other 5, and therefore maybe there wasn't a real oppertunity to capatalize on around that time leaving RZA/Divine less inspired or motivated to get those projects on the roll with RZA producing them in full. Other oppertunities might've been flowing RZA's way with way more money or commercial potential. Not fair to the emcees, not fair to the fans, but at this time business has overtaken the raw recording mentality of the early 90s where nothing counted more than just making bangers, one for all, all for one.
My personal favorite for much of the 90s was actually U-God. Loved the voice, loved the compact rap style he rapped with, and was looking forward to Warriors, which we were told was the name of his solo album to come back then. But alas, that didn't happen and I can see why U-God would feel salty about it. And then seeing Killarmy and Sunz Of Man release two, three albums and go gold. That's gotta piss you off. Eventhough 4th handled the bulk of those albums and didn't really need RZA but for a beat or 2. But U-God needed RZA in full. So I don't think his saltiness is weird. What I don't like is that resentment being aired out publically and in a very "you're to blame" kind of way. I never liked the public airing of their feuds, that's what fucking tainted it all for me and made me lose respect for that shit. That's why I never publically said shit back to them neither when they went at me. But U-God started that shit. I was with RZA when U-God called him a slave owner on Hot97. That was a black day and I don't think things were ever the same again after that. And for the record, with me, U-God was mostly an asshole, so I'm not trying to stand up for the dude.
But 4th got that shit, well, had it somewhere and I don't think it'll ever surface. And not enough folks care anymore neither. Not commercially enough. And don't expect 4th to be able to make you another Soldiers Of Darkness like that. He's moved on to a much cleaner sound. Sold the old equipment last I heard to stay afloat. The True Master beat tape that's out there, it's just ok, nothing OMG. The KRS One album was cool. It's wasn't Slang Editorial cool, it wasn't Heaterz, it was alright. Wu-Tang's strength was in their albums. Not the individual songs, but how all those songs made the album experience incredible. I said this before, Wisdom Body's beat is nowhere near as dope as Wu-Gambinos, but they're on the same album and they work together magically. The selection of the beats, the arrangement, the skits in between, the vibe in the 90s, the fantasized picture of them all together in a dusty basement, all those elements psychologically embodied your golden era Wu-Tang experience. You're never getting that again. Not knowing what you know now and where they are in their lives. All you can hope for now is that suprisingly sounding ok track from the Clan. When is the last time you heard a Clan track that made you feel like the first time you heard Wu-Tang Forever? It was probably around Supreme Clientele. After that... well, you know the story.
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